30

Thirty is a nice round number and seems totally innocuous when referring to how many days are in the month of September, but in reference to my age, it seems weird. I don't have an 'anti-aging I'm turn 21 for the ninth year in a row' thing going on. I don't really feel any different, I was just so used to saying I was a twenty something, I guess. I've also never been one of the those people who has a timeline of events planned out for their life. So, I never had a clear thought about where I thought I'd be in life when I turned thirty, which is fine with me since I love where I'm at in life. I love my husband and kids and family and that I get to stay home and friends and my house and dog (most of the time) and a million little things that come together to make my life what it is. So, thanks to everyone who contributes!

For my birthday, I had lunch with my lady friends (minus Kristen, who was excused due to birthing a baby the previous evening) and that night I went out with other friends. Leigh and Robyn got me a fantastic dress and spent an hour curling my hair and I put shoes on with about an 8" heel and off we went. I had a great night with everyone and then to complete the birthday weekend we had cake the next night to include the kiddies.

Sorry there aren't more pics but I stopped using my camera after we left the Stewart's house. Leigh and Robyn both have Facebook albums of the rest of the night, but when I tried to use the URLs from those pictures nothing showed up here...I'll try to remedy that soon!

Game On!

Liv has started her 4th soccer season. We've switched leagues this year and the new league has different colored uniforms for every team and plays on bigger fields. The additional running is going to be an adjustment, but Liv says it worth it to look different than the other teams. The girls have decided on Panthers as their team name. Ryleigh and Olivia wanted to be Wildcats, but were outvoted, so Panthers it is! We've played 2 games and have 1-1 record so far. Liv has scored her first goal of the season and is having fun. Hopefully her cardiovascular fitness will improve on the bigger fields and I'll have a little Mia Hamm on my hands!

Just increasing property value...

For the first time since I've known him, Kevin turned over control of a home improvement project to someone else. We've wanted to add a patio to the backyard for a long time for lots of reasons. I'll list those for you now: we can't get real grass to grow there but the weeds love it no matter what we do, Kenzie likes to potty there and that's too close to the house for my comfort, and we like to entertain and wanted a prettier place to do it. So, we got many bids and the winner was Mr. Jimmy Turner (whose quote was half of our highest quote, crazy). Jimmy was referred to me by my mom, and since my mom is generally brilliant we felt like we were in good hands. Hi mom, just lobbying to be your favorite kid! Jimmy is an efficient man. He came on a Monday and dug out the patio area and Tuesday came back with a helper and concrete truck. I loved the immediate gratification of having dirt in the morning and that afternoon being able to walk on fresh patio. I insisted on leaving our mark in the patio. I snuck Liv out of school during her recess and woke Josie up from her nap early and had Kevin stop work all at the same time to make it happen. I didn't realize how narrow the window of opportunity was to do the imprint. Anyway, we love it and have officially hosted our first event on patio...and Kevin has already built a pergola on it as well....pics soon!

Updates at the Estate

I get so far behind with my blog updates that I get overwhelmed and don't post anything..a vicious cycle I realize. We've had a busy month. My bathroom--you know the only one I have that has been in a state of at least semi remodel/construction zone for 2 years is now 95% done. This even includes brushing my teeth in the bathroom, something we had to do in the kitchen for four months. I am really excited and proud about that. Then we got crazy and had someone pour us a 13x15 concrete patio in our backyard. This marks the first time ever that my husband has ever paid someone to do a job that he could have done himself. So, I am kinda proud of that too. He is about 95% done building a pergola over the patio, which is super nice...all we need now is to assemble our new grill and score some awesome new patio furniture. Also this month, I've turned 30 and Liv turned 7. Liv started her, I think, 4th soccer season and Josie will begin a MDO program next week. So I have soccer blogs and home remodel blogs and MDO blogs and birthday blogs and that I really want to do...I'm gonna try to get better about posting! For now, check out my family's feet...well, our right feet anyway. We left our mark in our new patio....

Things and knick knacks, too!

We've taken our Dora obsession to a whole new level. I scored BackPack at a consignment sale. If the seller was aware of BackPack's magical powers, no way would I have scored it for the bargain price of $3. Maybe you don't know, but BackPack is loaded with up things and knick knacks, too. Anything that you might need, BackPack has inside for you. It's like the Mary Poppins bag in children's shows. Josie wears it everywhere we go now....everywhere.

Liv is a Buckaroo

I'm not sure how we got here, but Liv is in second grade. Actually, we're wrapping up our third week and all is well. Her teacher is Mrs. Greer (the exact teacher she wanted) and they have a western themed classroom. Liv is a Buckaroo and was even deputized. So far, we're learning a lot, which requires a lot more homework. I am officially the Room Mom and I'm so excited to be so involved with Liv's class again this year!